The WEEK in WORKOUTS – Perfect Posture and a Cardio + Strength HIIT

Sometimes it’s hard being a conscientious trainer.

I mean, I’d love to compete with all those other fitness gurus out there who are killin’ the game and putting out nothing but brutal, super sweaty, hardcore workouts that are sure to get you super fit. (The world truly needs a sarcasm font, and that sentence is proof.) The thing is, most people love workouts like that because you can feel them working. All that sweat must be doing something, right?

But the reality of the situation is this: you might want super sweatfest workouts, but you also needslower moving, precise exercises that work on your stabilizer muscles.

Like this workout.

This might be one of the most important workouts I’ve ever put on YouTube, so that almost guarantees it will be one of the least popular. But I posted it anyway, because I love my Killer Bs and I want the best for you (even if you don’t always want it for yourselves). We’re working on gentle stretching of the chest muscles, toning of the rear torso (upper back) muscles, and improving balance with just a handful of simple exercises. This workout isn’t sexy. It’s not crazy fast-paced, and your heart rate isn’t going to go through the roof. But it will make you stronger and more capable of doing those other types of workouts. And yay for that! 🙂

Here’s the breakdown:

Upper Back RESISTANCE BAND Workout for Strength, Tone and Posture | 15 Minute BACK + SHOULDERS

Difficulty Level: Beginner – The moves are uncomplicated and there is plenty of verbal explanation on the video. If you have significant trouble with your balance, you can easily modify the exercises by standing on both feet or standing close to something that will help you correct your balance.

You’ll need a flat resistance band (the tube kind with handles will work also), or you might do these exercises without resistance to work on shoulder mobility. Complete 20 reps of each exercise.

And, then again, since I do want to compete in the world of sweaty, fat-burning workouts, I made you something else this week: a super fun and fast-paced full body HIIT with dumbbells!

Actually, this workout sneaks in a fair amount of stability work, too, but it’s even tougher because you’re trying to accomplish it with an elevated heart rate. There’s a lot of bang for your buck here with cardio work, strength exercises and isometric holds, each done in relatively short intervals but stacked together into a nice, long, sweaty period of work. Thankfully, there’s also just enough rest to bring your heart rate back down, too.

You’ll need one dumbbell (I went pretty heavy with mine because we’re holding it with both hands for many of the exercises, but you should set your own challenge based on what you can handle) and, if you’re doing this workout on your own, an interval timer.

Difficulty Level: Beginner+ – The moves are simple and you might be familiar with many of them (possibly all of them if you’ve done a lot of my videos), but the workout moves along quickly with short intervals. There is verbal explanation of the exercises, but prior knowledge is helpful to get the most out of the work intervals.

Set your timer for 20 second intervals. Complete the warm up and move into the main workout without rest. For the main workout, complete all three exercises in the triplet before resting for 20 seconds. Repeat the triplet three times before moving on to the next set.

Do you have a hard time making yourself do “less popular” workouts? I know lots of people do – it’s tough to move slow or finish a workout without feeling sweaty and spent. Balance workouts are like the dental flossing of the exercise world – super good for you, but just a little boring and kind of hard to see immediate benefits.